African Water Development Report 2006 - United Nations Economic ...

Box 10.2: FAO GLOBAL INFORMATION AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEM ONFOOD AND AGRICULTUREMANAGING RISKSSPECIAL ALERT No. 300 SOUTHERN AFRICADate: 22 February 2000FLOODS AND ERRATIC RAINS CAUSE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE IN PARTS OF SOUTHERN AFRICAThe worst floods for four decades have devastated parts of Southern Africa, leaving thousands homeless and seriouslythreatening food supplies. Damage to housing, property and infrastructure has also been extensive, whichwill require substantial assistance to rehabilitate. The situation varies from country to country, but the rains havegenerally been erratic since the beginning of the season. In some areas, excessive rainfall was received, whilst inothers there were prolonged dry spells. Torrential rains in the first dekad of February in Mozambique, South Africa,Botswana and Swaziland, resulted in loss of life and severe damage to housing and infrastructure. An assessment ofcrop damage is not yet available but significant losses are anticipated in the worst affected areas.Mozambique has borne the brunt of severe floods, where some 300 000 people have already been affected.However, this number is expected to rise substantially, following cyclone “Eline” which has just hit the country.The Government of Mozambique has appealed for US$ 2.7 million in international assistance to cope with theemergency. WFP is currently distributing emergency food aid to 150 000 people in the country. In South Africa,the number of people left homeless is provisionally estimated at 100 000 and in Botswana at 4 000. No assessmentis yet available for Swaziland. In Lesotho, abundant rains in early February brought relief to crops stressedby previous dry weather but may have been too late to prevent a reduction in yields. In contrast, more rains areneeded in Malawi, Namibia, Madagascar and Zambia, where precipitation in February has been below average.In Zimbabwe, while growing conditions are satisfactory due to favourable rains since the beginning of the season,maize production is likely to be affected by a reduction in area planted due to diversion of land to more profitablecrops. The food supply situation is tight for large numbers of vulnerable people in the urban areas of the country,due to high levels of inflation and fuel shortages. The food situation remains extremely serious in war-affectedAngola, where emergency food aid continues to be necessary for some 1.1 million displaced people, as well as forlarge numbers of Angolan refugees in Zambia and Namibia.Although it is too early to estimate the impact of floods and insufficient rains on regional crop production, there arefears of a significant drop in cereal production and the emergence of food shortages in the worst affected areas.FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System is closely monitoring the situation and will mount in April2000, jointly with WFP, Crop and Food Supply Assessment Missions to the most seriously affected countries.239